BitMine $7B Paper Loss, Crypto Crash Pressures ETH Treasuries

Corporate Ether treasury companies are facing significant paper losses on their holdings after the latest market correction pulled many underwater.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate Ether (ETH) holder, is sitting on $6.95 billion in unrealized losses. Its Ether holdings were acquired at an average price of $3,883 per token, significantly higher than the current $2,240 ETH price. 

SharpLink Gaming, the second-largest Ether treasury firm, is facing $1.09 billion in paper losses, after Ether’s price fell below its average cost basis of $3,609, according to the company’s dashboard.

The mounting unrealized losses may test the conviction of Ether treasury companies, making it increasingly difficult to raise funds, as Ether’s correction is leading to a decline in Market Net Asset Value (MNAV). BitMine’s mNAV sank to 1, while SharpLink’s mNAV fell to 0.92. 

The mNAV ratio compares a company’s enterprise value to the value of its crypto holdings. An mNAV below 1 makes it more challenging for companies to raise funds by issuing new shares, which may limit their cryptocurrency purchases.

The dynamic may lead to a “brutal pruning” among crypto treasury firms in 2026, when only the best-capitalized players will survive, predicted asset manager Pantera Capital.

Related: BitMine to invest $200M in YouTuber MrBeast’s Beast Industries

Despite the concerns, Ether’s current decline remains in line with analysis from Tom Lee, the chairman of BitMine and the co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors.

Lee predicted an Ether drawdown to around $1,800 in the first quarter of 2026, before crypto markets would find their footing and rally into year-end, Cointelegraph reported in December.

Related: Sharplink pockets $33M from Ether staking, deploys another $170M ETH

Trend Research sells $79 million Ether at a loss

The latest crypto market downturn already pressured some treasury companies to start unwinding their bets.

On Monday, Hong Kong-based investment firm Trend Research closed its leveraged positions by selling 33,589 Ether worth $79 million at a loss.

Trend Research borrowed an additional $77.5 million in USDt (USDT) from Binance to repay its loan. The company lowered its ETH borrowing liquidation level from $1,880 to $1,830, according to blockchain data shared by EmberCN.

Trend Research still holds a long position worth 618,000 Ether (valued at $1.43 billion at time of writing,) but faces an unrealized loss of over $534 million.

Jack Yi, the founder of Trend Research, said the investment firm will await the market recovery while keeping risk under control.

“After selling out at the top, being too early to go bullish on ETH was indeed a mistake. Because when BTC was around 100k, ETH kept staying at 3000, and we thought it was undervalued,” he added in a Monday X post.

Meanwhile, the industry’s leading traders by returns, tracked as “smart money,” are accumulating spot Ether tokens during the market downturn.

During the past week, smart money traders acquired $38.3 million worth of spot ETH tokens, while whales acquired $5.47 million and fresh wallets bought $31 million, according to crypto intelligence platform Nansen.

Magazine: Sharplink exec shocked by level of BTC and ETH ETF hodling — Joseph Chalom